Brit Marling Does Summer

share it

When Brit Marling graduated from Georgetown with a major in economics, she was on track for a job at Goldman Sachs. Instead, she chose acting and, like a lot of women in Hollywood these days, found herself dissatisfied with the roles available to her. So she started writing and, in 2011, was met with major critical acclaim when two of her films, Another Earth and Sound of My Voice, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. In just a few short years she’s become a sort of queen of the indie film circuit; she’s also enjoyed sartorial success, wearing designers like Prabal Gurung, Valentino, and Marni on the red carpet and landing in the pages of Vogue and on the cover of W. Her classic fashion choices are usually paired with naturally wavy blonde hair and organically dewy skin, but turns out the Los Angeles-based Marling does have fun with beauty. Her hairstylist, Laini Reeves, and makeup artist, Darlene Jacobs, were tasked with showing off summer’s top beauty trends—wet hair, blue eyeliner, red lips, braids, and bold brows—on a more than willing Marling.

To make Marling’s air-dried hair look wet when she arrived in our studio, Reeves doused Marling’s hair with Davines Melu Thermal Protecting Shield ($26) and brushed it back with her fingers. Meanwhile, manicurist Michelle Saunders painted one coat of Essie’s Nail Polish ($8) in Master Plan over a coat of the brand’s BBF. “The pink and gray together feels modern,” she said. When Marling does experiment, it’s with a lip. Here, Jacobs filled in Marling’s lips with M.A.C.’s Lip Pencil ($15) in Cherry before using her fingers to press the brand’s Lipstick ($15) in Ruby Woo into the actress’ lips. To finish, she dusted on Pigment Powder ($21) in Red. As fun as it’d be to see the red lip paired with the blue liner, Jacobs used Bioderma Crealine ($38) to remove the pigment before lining Marling’s eyes with M.A.C.’s Chromagraphic Pencil ($16) in Hi-Def Cyan.

While Reeves worked Marling’s hair into a wonderfully textured, long braid that wrapped around her head, the actress filled us in on her current favorites: badminton, pickles, Cashewtopia, and Adam Gopnik’s 2004 New Yorker essay, “The Last of the Metrozoids.”

As for those lashes, Jacobs layered Chanel’s Le Volume de Chanel Mascara ($30) in Black on Marling’s top and bottom lashes, using tweezers to clump them together for a babydoll effect that mirrored her Giuletta top. Marling’s favorite look? “I might try wearing blue eyeliner in real life!”

1 of 5

PHOTO: Justin Coit

Makeup artist Darlene Jacobs filled in Marling's brows, an homage to both model of the moment Cara Delevingne and the spring summer runways of Versace, Zac Posen, and Narciso Rodriguez.

Marling wears a dress by Bottega Veneta on the previous slide. On this page, dress by Honor.

2 of 5

PHOTO: Justin Coit

There's no wrong season for the matte red lip, but it shone bright at Prada, Missoni, and Rochas this season.

Blue lace dress with python insert, Erdem.

3 of 5

PHOTO: Justin Coit

Hairstylist Laini Reeves wove Marling's spectacular locks into a soft, romantic braid, like those seen at The Row and Balmain.

White and grey perforated dress, Yigal Azrouel.

4 of 5

PHOTO: Justin Coit

Use tweezers to squeeze your mascaraed lashes together for a Twiggy-like look inspired by the big lashes Pat McGrath built at Gucci and Stephane Marais constructed at Jean Paul Gaultier.

Blue top with black paillettes, Giuletta.

5 of 5

PHOTO: Justin Coit

There's never been a better time to leave the house with wet hair. Marling shows off the look from rag & bone—one still going strong in Prada's just released fall ads.